Author
When will our ‘pro-life’ leaders do something about gun deaths?
Aaron Salter Jr., 55, was on duty at the security job that supplemented his retirement income. Ruth Whitfield, 86, was buying groceries. Celestine Chaney, 65, stopped in for strawberries for the shortcake she and her sister were eager to enjoy. But their plans went awry Saturday afternoon. Salter’s work shift ended sooner than he expected. […]
Recent remarks from Justice Clarence Thomas, Gov. Kim Reynolds are soaked in irony
Irony has been so deep in recent days that we shouldn’t be surprised if people start walking around with their chore boots on or with the cuffs on their pants rolled up to avoid the mess. Consider: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas recently made an observation that caused some people’s eyes to bug in […]
Lawsuit on judicial debt collection needs sunshine, not secrecy
The legendary U.S. Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis once observed, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” Brandeis was not talking about everyday cleaning around the home. He was concerned about the importance of transparency in rooting out or preventing corruption or abuses in the workings of a program, an organization or an […]
Utah’s governor listened to both sides before acting on trans athlete restrictions. Iowa’s didn’t.
Through history, some political leaders have been outstanding orators. Boy, could they talk. They knew how to mobilize and move people with their words. Think of Franklin Roosevelt and, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Or Ronald Reagan and, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” The ability to crystallize their thoughts […]
Lessons about cracked legal theories from a misguided pots-n-pans salesman
Many years ago, I sat at the kitchen table of a pots-n-pans salesman from Pleasant Valley. We didn’t talk about cookware. He was laying out with lots of precision why the United States government had no legal basis for prosecuting him for willfully refusing to file federal income tax returns. It was a lengthy conversation […]
Departing superintendent’s payout teaches taxpayers an expensive lesson
Des Moines Superintendent Thomas Ahart has been a lightning rod during the past three years over the way Iowa’s public schools have responded to the COVID pandemic. Ahart announced last week that he is leaving, effective June 30. But the Des Moines school board ensured that Ahart will continue to carry that lightning rod for […]
Here’s another place where Iowa needs more transparency
There has been a lot of talk lately about why Iowa’s K-12 school districts need to be more transparent, and more accessible and more accountable, to parents and the rest of the tax-paying people of Iowa. That is the justification offered for a bulging backpack full of bills introduced in the Legislature this year. But […]
Lawmakers’ mixed message on mandates puzzles Iowans
I’m confused, and I have a hunch I am not the only one. Are government mandates a bad thing — or are they good? My confusion comes because I hear what leaders in the Iowa Legislature and Gov. Kim Reynolds have said for months. It certainly seems as if, to a person, they agree mandates […]
Massive tax cuts won’t solve Iowa’s population challenges
I stumbled across a statistical tidbit the other day that probably will surprise many people. U.S. Census Bureau figures show that between 1900 and 2000, the state that grew the least in population, on a percentage basis, was Iowa. Read that again. No state had smaller population growth between 1900 and 2000, as a percentage, […]
Senate removal of media won’t keep Iowans informed
Typically, in the days leading up to the start of a new session of the Iowa Legislature, the attention is on lawmakers’ goals and priorities — and on the pledges they make to work together for the good of the people of Iowa. This year, however, Republican leaders who control the Iowa Senate announced a […]
Two accidental shootings by police, two very different approaches to justice
Minnesota and its government officials delivered an important lesson recently on how to provide justice — and their lesson should be taken to heart by their neighbors in Iowa. The contrast is jarring between the way government handled the deaths of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minn., and Autumn Steele in Burlington, Iowa. One was […]
Those ‘good neighbor deeds’ can recharge us
When I walked out the door at the Des Moines Register for the final time on Dec. 12, 2014, there was an unfinished piece of work tucked away in a box of assorted stuff I carried. The folder contained a few dozen newspaper clippings, press releases and notes to myself I had collected. There was […]